Microsoft just ditched Drasi and it could change the way we deal with big data

Microsoft has launched Drasi, a new open-source data processing system designed to simplify detecting and responding to critical events in complex infrastructure.

This release follows last year’s launch of Radius, an open application platform for the cloud, and further confirms Microsoft’s commitment to open source innovation in cloud computing.

Mark Russinovich, CTO and technical fellow at Microsoft Azure, described Drasi as “the birth of a new category of data systems” in an interview with VentureBeat.

He explained that Drasi emerged from an awareness of the increasing complexity of event-driven architectures, especially in scenarios such as IoT edge deployments and intelligent building management.

From complexity to clarity

“We saw tremendous architectural simplification, just incredible developer productivity,” Russinovich said, highlighting Drasi’s potential to reduce the complexity of reactive systems.

Drasi works by continuously monitoring data sources, assessing upcoming changes using predefined queries, and performing automatic responses when certain conditions are met.

This approach eliminates the need for inefficient polling mechanisms or continuous querying of data sources, which can lead to performance bottlenecks in large-scale systems.

The key innovation of the system is the use of continuous database queries to monitor state changes. “Drasi takes that and says, ‘I just have a database query… and when an event occurs… Drasi knows, ‘Hey, part of this query was satisfied,'” Russinovich explained.

Open source synergy

Microsoft’s decision to open Drasi as an open source project is consistent with Microsoft’s broader strategy of contributing to the open source community, particularly in the area of ​​cloud-native computing.

This strategy is evident with the recent launch of Radius, which solves the challenges of deploying and managing cloud-native applications across multiple environments.

“We believe in contributing to the open source community because… many enterprises are creating strategies that, especially in the case of Cloud Native Computing, are focused on open source software and open governance,” Russinovich said.

The Azure Incubations team behind both Drasi and Radius has experience running successful open source projects including Dapr, KEDA, and Copacetic. All of these projects are available through the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).

While Radius focuses on deploying and managing applications, Drasi handles the complexity of event-driven architectures. Together, these tools represent Microsoft’s holistic approach to solving the challenges facing developers and operations teams in modern cloud environments.

Drasi’s continuous inquiries usher in a new era of reactive systems

Looking ahead, Russinovich hinted at a possible integration of Drasi with Microsoft data services. “It looks like it will likely be added to our data services where Drasi is integrated with a Postgres or Cosmos DB database, or as a standalone service that integrates with them,” he said.

The introduction of Drasi could have significant implications for companies struggling with the complexities of cloud-native programming and event-driven architectures. By simplifying these processes, Microsoft wants to enable organizations to create more responsive and efficient applications, which can potentially lead to improved operational efficiency and faster time to market for new features.

As with Radius, Microsoft is actively seeking feedback from partners and early adopters to improve Drasi and address any scaling, performance, and security issues that may arise in production environments. The real test for both tools will be their adoption and performance in real-world scenarios across different cloud providers and on-premises environments.

As companies increasingly rely on cloud-native applications and real-time data processing, tools like Drasi and Radius can play a key role in managing the increasing complexity of modern software systems.

Time will tell whether Drasi will actually become the new category of computing system that Russinovich suggests, but its introduction represents another significant step in Microsoft’s ongoing efforts to shape the future of cloud computing through open source innovation.